honestly im just totally fed up with my current setup its stuttering like crazy even on low settings and i literally cant play a single match of Valorant without it lagging out right when I see an enemy its so tilting. My old laptop is basically a paperweight at this point and im finally building a desktop because I need something that actually works. Im looking at Intel specifically because my friend said they are more stable for what I need but there are so many i3 and i5 options and I dont want to buy the wrong thing and be stuck in the same position again. I need to get this ordered by Tuesday because my break starts soon and I want to actually enjoy my time off.

Here is what I am working with:

• total budget for the cpu is around 150 bucks maybe 170 if it really makes a massive difference
• mainly playing tactical shooters but i want to try elden ring too without it looking like a slideshow
• I live in the US so I have access to microcenter and amazon
• needs to be something that wont overheat in a basic case because I am not spending a fortune on a fancy cooler

which intel chip is the actual sweet spot right now for price to performance because i keep seeing people argue about the 12th gen versus the 13th gen and its getting confusing... i just want to play games without my pc dying every five minutes